Hoi An

The taxi drive from Da Nang to Hoi An, along the coast, was quite surreal. First we passed China Beach, where US troops used to go for R&R in the American (not Vietnam here) war. Then there was a long stretch of spanking new developments, resort after resort two with major golf courses, one ‘owned’ by Colin Montgomerie and one by Greg Norman....huge billboards everywhere saying ‘Great White Shark spotted in Da Nang’. There were armies of Vietnamese workers in hard hats returning to the building sites after lunch. I couldn’t help wondering who on earth would come there on holiday and whether there was the local infrastructure – water, sanitation etc, to cope with such huge developments. Also, this coast is subject to annual typhoons. We later found out that the money behind these projects is Korean and Chinese.

Hoi An itself is a beautiful town with World Heritage status. It was a major trading port for 4 centuries till the Thu Bon river silted up in the nineteenth century. Many Chinese and Japanese traders settled here and have left their mark in the Old Town, which has a huge number of well-preserved old houses, assembly halls and temples. By agreement on both sides, Ho An escaped damage in the American War.

It did take me a while though to fall for the charm of Hoi An, because the tourist boom here has got rather out of control, especially in the hundreds (no exaggeration) of tailors’ shops touting for business, wanting to make suits, shirts, dresses, coats, blouses etc with a 24 hour turnaround. In addition there are shoe shops, shops selling all manner of silk goods (scarves, cushions, lanterns, table runners...) and the usual souvenir shops. Although I like shopping, this really is too much. You are constantly accosted with ‘you buy something madame, you come in my shop, I give you good discount’ etc etc. It’s almost impossible to browse, because as soon as you show any interest a salesperson will start taking out dozens of samples and wanting you to try them.

So, our first afternoon and evening was a little overwhelming, but the next day we were hardened to it and concentrated on visiting the wonderful old buildings on a long walking tour which took us several fascinating hours. During the walk we visited one of the most lively produce markets I have ever seen – live animals, mountains of vegetables and herbs, noodles, rice, pancakes. The sights, smells and sounds were intoxicating.

As a break from all this, we took a lovely peaceful river cruise in the late afternoon, just the two of us and a very friendly boatman who took us down to the mouth of the river to see fishing boats, fishermen casting their nets, and a series of enormous fishing nets stretched out to dry on bamboo poles.

An upside of the tourist boom in Hoi An is that there are some wonderful restaurants here – although you’d be pushed to eat badly anywhere in Vietnam. We’ve tried to make sure we eat the local specialities wherever we are, and haven’t been disappointed. Local beers are an amazing price, about 12p. It’s all freshly brewed, tastes like decent lager and goes down very well. Vietnam is not a place to drink wine though – wine is expensive and not good. They have their own local wines from Dalat, and some uninspiring imports, mainly from France. Last night after dinner we found a wine bar run by Aussies, with decent Australian wine – lovely, and a taste of things to come in a week or so.